Education

For a community its size, Wilmington is blessed with many fine educational institutions ranging from preschool to college, public and private schools, education for special-needs children, vocational secondary programs, two-year degrees in the latest technologies and four-year degrees in liberal arts and sciences.

Wilmington College is a private, four-year, career-oriented, liberal arts college founded in 1870 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Most popular among its 24 academic majors are programs in education, business and economics, agriculture, sport management and athletic training (sports medicine).

WC’s Peace Resource Center and Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center represent the embodiment of WC’s historic Quaker commitment to peacemaking, social justice, global citizenship and respect for all persons. The College presents its students with intentional encounters with these values while, also, fostering a passionate engagement in service and leadership.

More than 40 percent of main campus students compete in intercollegiate athletics as student-athletes representing Wilmington in the Ohio Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III. Wilmington’s women’s basketball team won the 2004 National Championship while the College also has had several individual national champions in wrestling and track & field. WC has 21 intercollegiate sports and an equestrian team. Dozens of scholar-athletes have attained All-America status through the years.

In addition to the College’s 65-acre main campus in Wilmington, it features farmland used as hands-on, teaching laboratories for agriculture majors. The college annually hosts some 1,200 students on its main campus and has two branch campuses in Cincinnati.

Located in beautiful southern Ohio, Southern State is a two-year community college that serves the diverse needs of its constituents. Established in 1975 as Southern State General and Technical College the primary academic focus was technical degrees. After changing to Southern State Community College in 1977 the curriculum expanded to meet the demands of students seeking specific career training as well as the needs of those students wishing to transfer after their first two-years of education. In addition to offering Associate degrees in both technical as well as transfer programs, the College offers a wide array of adult basic literacy courses and workforce training programs.

Priding itself on offering affordable, accessible, and high quality education, Southern State continues to reach more and more people throughout southern Ohio and beyond. With four convenient locations throughout Adams, Brown, Clinton, Highland, and Fayette counties in Ohio, the College has become a pillar of quality in the community.In May 2000, the newest addition to Southern State was added in Wilmington. A state-of-the –art, 35,000 square foot facility was erected after the College had spent many years in a retired Air Force Base near Airborne Express. Southern State is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The Wilmington City School District has an enrollment of over 3,400 students in six buildings. The district covers 178 square miles in central Clinton County and a very small portion of Greene County.Wilmington High School is located at 300 Richardson Place and 900 students in grades nine through twelve select classes from a wide-ranging course of study.

Wilmington Middle School is located at 275 Thorne Avenue and houses 770 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. This facility opened in 1993. The district has three elementary buildings for kindergarten through fifth grades: Denver Place Elementary – 660 students; Holmes Elementary – 590 students; and East End Elementary – 300 students.

Junior and senior students who are interested in vocational training attend the nearby Laurel Oaks Vocational School.

Most students with special needs are included in our general education classrooms with help from additional staff members and educational supports. Separate classrooms are available for students whose needs are best met in a smaller and more specialized environment.

Laurel Oaks Career Development Campus, part of Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development campus network, is located in the Wilmington Air Park. Students from Clinton County interested in a vocational career may enroll at Laurel Oaks.